Wounded robbery suspect transferred to jail

MUNCIE, Ind. — A man wounded in a Saturday shootout that killed his cousin was transferred Monday night from IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital to the Delaware County jail.

Delon Martez Owens, 21, of Indianapolis, is preliminarily charged with robbery and burglary in connection with the events that unfolded about 6:30 a.m. Saturday in an apartment building at 1707 N. Glenwood Ave., north of the Ball State University campus.

Owens — who was already set to stand trial in December on four attempted murder charges in Marion County — was being held under a $60,000 bond.

Muncie police said Owens and his 21-year-old cousin, Trayon L. Turner, were shot after they forced their way into the Muncie apartment, allegedly intending to commit a robbery.

Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn said Turner died at the scene of a gunshot wound in the head.

The occupant of the apartment, Darjae M. Houston — a 23-year-old Ball State student from Indianapolis — told police she had hosted a small gathering at her home on Friday night. Owens and his girlfriend, Alicia Renee Tarver — who is also a BSU student from Indianapolis — were among the guests, she said.

Houston said she had declined Tarver’s request that Owens’ cousin, Trayon Turner, be invited to the gathering, saying “she doesn’t like people she doesn’t know well coming over.”

Houston — who had noticed that her house and car keys were missing after Owens and Tarver left the party Friday night — said she was awakened about 4:30 a.m. Saturday when someone unlocked the front door of her apartment with a key and began to enter. The masked intruder fled when she shouted, Houston told police.

Houston then called a male friend to stay at her apartment, and was discussing the situation with fellow student Tarver via FaceTime when two men, both wearing masks and armed with handguns, tried to enter her front door.

When Houston’s male friend tried to prevent the intruders from entering, one of the gunmen shot him in the wrist.

Houston told police she then retrieved her own 9mm handgun from the couch and began firing at the masked men in her doorway. One of the men — later identified as Turner — fell to the floor, while the other intruder fled, she said.

After being hit by three bullets, Owens apparently fled to Tarver’s Marleon Drive apartment, and she drove him to the Muncie hospital, where he underwent surgery.

Owens tried to persuade police he had been shot by three bandits who robbed him of his cellphone near Tarver’s home.